Vo chaand jaisi ladki

We connect with everyone for a while. And that’s what happened today with her. And with me. I had always assumed she was a cleanliness freak, and she turned out to be exactly that. I have always felt she exudes an aura of a lot of calmness. I had never heard her speak much, but when she does, she does it with an oddity everyone falls for, and so I had been told. I saw why. I expected an awkward conversation with her when we were left with no one to steer the talk, but she has a comforting presence. Or maybe because while connecting with somebody new, the series of questions and answers can be never-ending. She came inside the dorm, wearing a navy blue top and beige shorts. She had left her hair open today, in contrast with the usual bun. In any case, she was relaxed, and made everyone of us feel relaxed around her. I realised I was sitting on her bed, eating shamelessly. But I compensated for that by not dropping morsels of food. And by the looks of her, she would have forgiven me. She looks SO kind. It was a long chitchat between the three of us, and soon she was spilling the beans. Maybe, that’s what a group of friends sitting in the dorm is all about. And it was after a long time that I was enjoying the strangers-turn-friends comfort that a dorm/hostel provides. So, I too decided to let my hair down, instead of hurrying to finish my lunch. She told me why she had not slept all night, and it had nothing to do with the Corporate Laws Manual lying in front of her, and it had nothing to do with anything in particular. Since she could not figure out what it was, in order to make herself sleep better, she changed the bedsheet and went back to sleep. I instantly took a liking to her. Anything that sounds weird AND acceptable AND funny was always welcome..I was all ears to whatever she had to say. She went on and on about a ‘gentleman’; she vacillated between praising him and criticising him, and then praising him again, but she denies having crush on her 😛 I believe her, though. She makes you believe what she says.

We talked about our families, our siblings, and shared some anecdotes about fateful days in the so-called ‘dacoit belt’ of the region. We finally arrived at the logic behind marriages that take place in the LBSNAA Academy. And now that I think about it, she had a valid point there. She had a lot of childhood stories to tell. During the past few months, I have met people who have had the most interesting stories to tell. And this one was no exception. A horror story, she had it. A funny story, she had it. You name it, and she had it. I was glad to be on the other side, because I was happy to see another seemingly shy person open up. I don’t know who opened up more though. After all, I did not tell them about my out-of-sight-out-of-mind-hardly-a-crush 😛 I was glad to be on the other side, because I realised that it is indeed beautiful to see a shy, taciturn girl opening up. The closest analogy that I can draw in her context is that of a flower unfolding its petals. It felt like that. And I’m taking this opportunity to blog because I’m too shy to tell her she’s my muse today..